


In All the Corners of Your Heart

by rsadelle



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, M/M, Podfic Available, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-14
Updated: 2012-12-14
Packaged: 2017-11-21 03:38:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/593010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rsadelle/pseuds/rsadelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mike and Jeff are a pack, and for a long time, that's all it is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Best Friends

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lake (beyond_belief)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/beyond_belief/gifts).



> This was written entirely in emails to entertain Lake. What you will find here: lots of touching, talking about their relationship, sex. What you will not find here: plot.

_I've known Jeff since we were 16, probably best friends since we were 18.  
-[Mike Richards](http://www.trentonian.com/article/20120529/SPORTS03/120529727/kings-richards-carter-back-in-the-finals-together&pager=full_story)_

 

Jeff wakes up slowly from his nap. He's on early practices today, which means the only thing he has to get to now is dinner. He opens his eyes at a slight chuckle to find Richie sitting cross-legged on the bed across from him.

"Hey."

"Hey." Richie slips off the other bed and crosses the room to stretch out next to Jeff.

"Dude," Jeff says. "What?"

Richie sort of shrugs. "I just wanted-" And then he frowns at Jeff. "I thought- Jeff didn't tell you?"

Jeff's still waking up, so it takes him a minute to realize Richie means Jeff Richards, not him. "Tell me what?"

Richie lets out a frustrated growl that wakes Jeff all the way up, because he knows that sound. That's a werewolf sound.

Jeff sits up, folding his legs under him, and looks down on Richie, who takes it for just a moment before he sits up too.

"You're a werewolf."

"Wolf," Richie says. "Not werewolf. Werewolf is-" He shrugs. "It's not the wolf word."

Jeff doesn't know what to say for a moment, a very long moment, where Richie, who is always so sure of himself, looks uncertain.

The moment breaks when Richie stands up and heads for the door.

"Okay," Jeff says, before Richie can leave.

Richie stops, but he doesn't turn around.

"Hey, we're cool, right?" Jeff says.

Richie says, "Yeah, we're cool," but when Jeff makes it to the dining hall, Richie's at a full table and won't even look at Jeff.

He sure fucked that one up.

*

Richie disappears after dinner, and still won't look at Jeff the next day, so after late practice and a shower, Jeff goes to Richie's room. He can't really sneak in, not if Richie's a wolf, but he can get in while Richie's asleep and let Richie wake up to Jeff sitting on his bed.

Richie sits up and scowls at him.

"Don't be a dick," Jeff says, before he remembers he needs to apologize. "Sorry about yesterday." He shrugs. "I don't know a lot of wolves."

Richie nods, and his scowl lets up, but he's still holding himself tight, like he's watching someone else take a playoff overtime faceoff.

"That was a wolf thing," Jeff hazards.

"We're not meant to be solitary creatures," Richie says.

"Okay," Jeff says, and he breathes evenly, because Richie will hear it if this is freaking him out. "So, you want to?" He gestures at the length of the bed.

"It won't be too weird for you?"

Jeff shrugs. "I've roomed with goalies. A little wolf contact isn't going to freak me out." When Richie doesn't move, Jeff takes the initiative and lies down.

Richie huffs out a noise that isn't quite human and lies down behind Jeff. He hooks his chin over Jeff's shoulder and turns so his nose is against Jeff's neck and Jeff can feel his breath. "Okay?"

Jeff says, "Sure." It's a little strange, but not so strange he won't do it. It's a little enough thing to do for Richie. "Don't sleep through dinner."

Richie's laugh is only half human, and Jeff feels it as much as he hears it. "We might be late, but we won't miss it."


	2. Pack

_We lived together and probably spent every day together for a couple years.  
-[Mike Richards](http://www.trentonian.com/article/20120529/SPORTS03/120529727/kings-richards-carter-back-in-the-finals-together&pager=full_story)_

 

Jeff's awake from his nap, TV on but not really paying attention to it, when the lock clicks and the door opens. Jeff hesitates for a second, but that's stupid. Richie's a wolf; he probably already knows how glad Jeff is to have him here. Besides, Richie's dropping his bags by the door with a giant smile on his face.

"Cartsy," he says, and it's enough to pull Jeff off the bed he's been sitting on to go meet Richie in the middle of the room.

He's used to Richie's hugs now, has even missed them in the time since they last saw each other, and being in a hotel room alone means they can hang on for as long as they want while Richie buries his face in Jeff's neck. Jeff doesn't have wolf senses, but the familiar scent of Richie's shampoo is comforting all the same.

"So," Richie says when he lets go but doesn't go far, "we going to win this thing?"

"We are now." Jeff turns away enough to look at the clock. "We're supposed to have dinner with Sharpy."

"Where are we going?"

"His place. Abby's cooking."

"We get to meet the famous Abby?" Richie brings his bags all the way into the room and starts rummaging through them.

"I guess so." Jeff stretches out on his bed. "It sounds like most of the guys have met her. She sounds cool."

"That makes sense," Richie says, "knowing Sharpy."

"We've got some time," Jeff says, "if you want to take a nap or something."

Richie stands between their beds and looks down at Jeff. "Can we?" He makes a gesture Jeff takes to mean Richie's wolf need for contact.

"Yeah." Jeff scoots over, making a little more space for Richie. "Come on."

Richie shifts them around, so Jeff ends up on his back with Richie mostly on top of him, Richie's chin on his collarbone, and Richie's face in his neck.

"Comfortable?" Jeff asks.

Jeff feels as much as hears the contented, not-human sound that rumbles through Richie. "Not too heavy for you?"

It might be too much for any real length of time, but they have to leave in an hour anyway, so Jeff says, "I'm a hockey player. I think I can take it."

*

Sharpy answers the door when they knock, and makes three jokes about them not being old enough to bring wine before he takes them into the kitchen to meet Abby. She's a pretty girl in jeans and a t-shirt with her hair pulled back into a ponytail who says, "We have enough wine for your whole team," to Sharpy, "Nice to meet you," to Jeff and Richie, and then, "You're supposed to be making a salad," to Sharpy.

Sharpy scrunches up his face, which only makes her lean over the counter and brush her nose against his.

Sharpy makes the salad, they break out a bottle of wine, and they all sit down at the table in the dining area.

"We like to call it that," Sharpy says, gesturing at the table in one half of a room divided between it and a living room area, "to pretend we live in a bigger place."

"Mostly," Abby says, "I do my homework on half the table and we eat on the other half. We cleaned it off special for you."

Richie grins at her and says, "You're not the hideous shrew I was led to expect."

Abby laughs, because Richie knows how to gauge that sort of thing - Jeff's never been able to figure out if it's a wolf thing or a natural talent - and Sharpy says, "If I told people the truth about you, they would all want you."

Abby puts her hand over Sharpy's and says, with a sharp look at Richie, "You'd better not be about to suggest he marry me as a safeguard."

Richie closes his mouth.

"You don't want to get married?" Jeff asks. They fit so well that it doesn't make sense.

"Oh, someday," Sharpy says.

"I'll need to be on his health insurance before I get pregnant," Abby says, and Sharpy doesn't even blink, both of them treating it like that's a given, "but there's no rush. We don't need to be married to belong together. Just because you two aren't officially related doesn't mean you aren't family."

Richie goes completely still, just for a few seconds, and it's enough to raise the hair on the back of Jeff's neck.

Abby and Sharpy don't seem to notice, and the conversation shifts to Abby's classes, and then stories from Abby and Sharpy's time in college, and eventually hockey.

It's fun, even if they don't stay late because they have practice in the morning. Abby hugs both of them when they leave, and she and Sharpy stand in the doorway, arms around each other, to wave goodnight.

Jeff goes to sleep alone when they get back to their hotel, but he isn't surprised to wake up in the morning with Richie tucked around him. It takes ten minutes of negotiation that mostly consists of Richie growling at him and Jeff pointing out that they have places to be today before Richie will let him get up.

*

They win. They win a lot. Jeff knows it's not just because of Richie - hockey is never just about one person - but there's no doubt in his mind that Richie is a big part of it.

They win in the third round at home, and after going out with the rest of the guys - between them they have enough fake IDs and people over twenty-one to get all the humans drunk and Richie a little buzzed - Jeff and Richie go back to their room where Richie pulls Jeff down onto his bed.

"We're going to win this," Jeff says. "We're going to win the Calder."

Richie's face breaks into a bright smile. "Of course we are." He slings his arm over Jeff's waist and just looks at him for a long time.

Jeff's laugh quiets the longer Richie stares at him. "What?"

"Do you remember what Abby said? When I first got here?"

Jeff is too drunk for this conversation to make sense. "No."

"She said we were family." Richie's hand creeps under the edge of Jeff's shirt to make a patch of warmth on his back. "Wolves don't have- We have families. But we also have packs."

Jeff lets his eyes fall closed. "Okay."

Richie makes a frustrated noise that's more human than wolf. It's weird, but not enough to make Jeff open his eyes. He could fall asleep right here.

"I don't- Technically, I'm still part of my parents' pack," Richie says. "But I'm not- That's not it for me. I'm an alpha." He stops, like that's supposed to be enough for Jeff to know what he's talking about.

"I don't know what that means for wolves."

This time Richie's frustrated noise is more of a wolf noise than a human one. "Alphas are leaders."

Jeff laughs and opens his eyes to grin at Richie. "That's you."

Richie grins back at him. "Yeah," he says. "Yeah." He's quiet for a while, long enough that Jeff closes his eyes and starts to doze off. "You could be my pack."

"I'm not a wolf," Jeff manages.

"You don't have to be," Richie says. "Humans can be part of the pack."

Jeff just hums a little, to show he's paying attention.

Richie hitches himself closer to Jeff; Jeff can feel his warmth everywhere, not just under the hand still on his back. "You could be," Richie says again. He sighs, his breath ghosting over Jeff's neck. "I'll explain it tomorrow."

Jeff agrees, as much as he can while half asleep, but Richie seems to know what he means and stops talking.

*

Jeff wakes up with the worst hangover he's ever had in his life. He stumbles out of bed, into the bathroom, and then around the room until he finds the Tylenol. He tips a few of them into his hand and washes them down with a couple of glasses of water. Then he gets back into bed and lets Richie pull him close. Richie's solid warmth is comforting, and he falls back to sleep easily.

The second time he wakes up, he doesn't feel quite so much like he wants to die just to stop the pain. Richie's already up, and he has coffee ready when Jeff gets out of the shower.

Jeff's halfway through his cup before vague memories of last night's conversation start to seep into his conscious mind. "Pack," he says. "You were going to explain."

"It's kind of like family," Richie says. He sits on his own bed, halfway across the room from Jeff. "But there's other stuff. There's a hierarchy. The alpha is the leader, and everyone else is below that. And being pack isn't like being humans. There's a connection between pack members." He frowns. "I don't really know how that works with humans. You might not be able to feel that."

Jeff sips at his coffee while he processes all of that. "So you'd be like my captain."

Richie laughs a little. "Yeah, something like that."

"Okay," Jeff says, "as long as I'm your A." There are probably other things he should ask about or think about, but he trusts Richie.

"Yeah," Richie says. "You can be my A." He shakes his head. "You're going to be my only pack member for now, anyway."

"Okay. Do I have to do anything?"

"Agree to it. Believe you're part of the pack." Richie looks away. "Let me bite you. I won't hurt you," he rushes on. "I won't even break the skin. I just- It's a wolf thing."

"Okay." Jeff puts his coffee down so he doesn't spill it, and Richie comes across the room to sit next to him.

"Tilt your head," Richie says.

Jeff does. "Really?"

"Wolf thing, baring your neck." Richie tugs the collar of Jeff's shirt to one side. He bites down at the place where Jeff's neck meets his shoulder. He bites hard, but it doesn't hurt, not really. When he lets go, he skims his teeth all the way up Jeff's neck to the underside of his jaw.

"Okay?" Jeff asks.

"Yeah." Jeff can feel Richie smile into his neck and then lick over the places his teeth just were.

"Richie!"

Richie pulls away with a grin. "Wolf thing," he says. "Get used to it."

Jeff picks up his coffee. "I guess this means we'd better both make the team for next season, stick together."

Richie drapes his arm over Jeff's shoulders. "We're going to win the Calder," he says. "We'll make the team."

*

They win twice in Chicago, and then they get a few days between games. There are still workouts and practices, but they get a little time to themselves. Richie drags Jeff out to take long, wandering walks through Philly's neighborhoods.

"We're going to be here next year," he says. "We should know the place. We'll have to figure out where we want to live too."

"You're a lot bossier now that I'm part of your pack," Jeff says.

"I was always this bossy," Richie says. "You just do what I say more often now. And," he adds after a moment, "we haven't ever spent this much time together before."

"True." Jeff follows Richie into a deli where they order sandwiches that turn out to be almost too big to bite into.

"Does it bother you?" Richie asks when they're halfway through their food. "The alpha thing?"

Jeff shrugs. "No. I'll just say no if you want me to do something I don't want to do." He laughs at the frown that puts on Richie's face. "You're not going to do that."

"You don't know that."

"Sure I do." Jeff steals a handful of Richie's chips. "I trust you."

A couple sits down at a table so close to theirs that they're almost bumping elbows. Richie flashes them a smile and changes the subject.

It's only when they're done with lunch and walking back toward their hotel that Richie says, "You don't really know a lot about being a pack."

"No." Jeff bumps his shoulder against Richie's. "But we are one. I'll figure it out as we go." Richie doesn't answer that, and Jeff looks at him as they walk. "What are you worried about? Are there secret wolf rituals you think are going to freak me out?"

"Not rituals," Richie says. "There aren't many other wolves here, but you'll probably run into some. They'll know you're part of a pack. Part of my pack. They'll be able to smell it on you."

It makes sense, and then it makes even more sense. "The sleeping thing. That's about making me smell like you."

"That's part of it," Richie says. He shrugs. "We really don't like being alone."

Jeff walks a little closer to him, so their shoulders bump together with every other step. He thinks it should make Richie relax, but it's not working that way.

"Other wolves," Richie says. "Other packs." He makes a frustrated wolf sound. "Sometimes it's about sex," he spits out. "Some packs, that's part of it. They might think that about you. But we don't- That's only one kind of pack. We won't ever unless you want to. And not all packs are like that. They won't all think that." Richie half-smiles without looking at him. "Some of them will just think I'm a shitty wolf who can't get anyone other than a stupid human to be part of my pack."

"I'm not stupid," Jeff says, leaving the rest of it alone. Richie obviously doesn't want to talk about it, and neither does he.

"Some wolves think any human is stupid." Richie shrugs. "You didn't really know what you were getting into."

Jeff says, "I'm not going to change my mind," and gets a smile out of Richie.

They've been napping together more often than not, but Richie doesn't climb into Jeff's bed or pull Jeff into his when they get back to the hotel. Jeff worries about that for a minute, but Richie acts like nothing's different when they go for dinner, so he probably doesn't have to do anything about it. He knows he doesn't when he wakes up with Richie in his bed in the morning and has to do the usual bit of negotiation to get Richie to let him up.


	3. Reunited

_Reunited and it feels so good...... Excited to be back playing with carts #needaroommate  
-[Mike Richards](https://twitter.com/MRichie_10/status/172932551210577921)_

 

The first thing Richie does when he shows up at Jeff's hotel room is bury his face in Jeff's neck. Jeff takes a step backwards, and another, so they're out of the way and the door can swing shut.

"I thought we were going out," he says when Richie shows no signs of letting go.

"You live here now," Richie says with a growl. "We can do that later."

Jeff tips his head to give Richie room to set his teeth against Jeff's neck. He doesn't break the skin - never does - but he does bite.

"Don't give me a hickey," Jeff says. "I don't want to have to explain that when I meet the team tomorrow."

Richie chuckles and finally backs off, not far, but enough that he can look Jeff over. "Fuck," he says, and then Jeff's wrapped up in him again, more of a human hug this time. "You're here."

"I know." Jeff grins just as hard as he knows Richie is and hangs on until Richie lets him go. "Can we at least order room service? I've eaten shit today, and I'm starving."

Richie makes himself comfortable on the bed while Jeff orders steaks for both of them, medium for him and rare - "as bloody as you can make it," he says into the phone - for Richie. He sits down with Richie, slouching so Richie can hook an arm around his stomach, his chin over Jeff's shoulder.

"I missed you," Richie says, soft and low into Jeff's throat.

"I know," Jeff says after a moment. "I could feel it."

They're close enough for Jeff to feel the hitch in Richie's breath. It's back to normal by the time Richie says, "There are a lot of wolves here. A lot of packs."

Jeff doesn't even have to ask to know what Richie means. "You're all over me." He puts his hand over Richie's. "I think they'll know I'm yours."

Richie's teeth scrape against his neck again, skim from one side to the other, bite down lightly over his spine at the back. Jeff keeps his head down, neck bared, until Richie decides he's done.

"You're moving in," Richie says. "There's a room for you. It even has furniture."

Jeff could protest, assert his independence, but they've been through this, both know how much of Richie's alpha control Jeff will and won't put up with, and Jeff doesn't want to be too far from Richie anyway. Maybe next season, if it feels permanent then. If it ever stops feeling like it did the few times he's seen Richie since the first trade, like they're storing up the feel of each other for when they're apart. Wolves aren't meant to be solitary creatures, and Jeff knows, can feel it even if he didn't know Richie would tell him if it changed, that he's still the only other member of Richie's pack.

Richie lets Jeff up to answer the door and sign for the food. Jeff takes the trays from the waiter at the door rather than let him into the room; no need to do anything that will trigger Richie's territorial issues. He does put it on the table instead of taking it to the bed, because the table is small enough that they can stretch their legs out under it and still touch, and eating room service on a bed is not as much fun when you've been in as many hotels as they have.

They break into the minibar after dinner, despite the fact that Jeff is the one who has to go to the rink tomorrow and Richie is the one who has an increased tolerance. Jeff ends up drunker than he means to be, which is probably what makes him cling so hard to Richie when they collapse into bed. And what makes him say, "I would have let you stay even if we weren't drinking," even though that should be a given, not something he has to say to his alpha.

*

Richie's still asleep when Jeff wakes up to the blaring of his alarm and a hangover he blames entirely on Richie. He shoves at Richie's shoulder as he gets out of bed. "Set an alarm for whenever you have to be up."

Richie just grunts at him and rolls over to bury his face in Jeff's pillow.

Jeff takes a shower and a couple of painkillers, which leaves him feeling well enough to head to the rink. He flips Richie off from the doorway anyway, because he knows that Richie's just wallowing; he's barely going to feel it when he wakes up. Richie can't see him, but he must know Jeff's being disrespectful, because he growls without moving.

That cheers Jeff right up, enough that he barely needs the coffee he has the cab stop for to smile at the people who meet him at the rink.

The front office is fully human, but he watches for the signs when he meets half the team and picks out the wolves. It's subtle, but he's spent enough time with Richie to see it, the way they look at him differently, the way a few of them do half-double takes when they realize they're smelling Jeff not Richie, the way they stare at Jeff and then incline their heads when he refuses to back down and drop his gaze. It's not the first time he's dealt with other wolves, and they might as well know from the start that just because he's human doesn't mean anyone other than Richie outranks him.

*

Despite Richie's grumbling about it, Jeff heads back to the hotel after the next day's game. There just isn't enough time for him to relax if he tries to move, no matter how little stuff he has or how easy Richie says the drive is. He doesn't have to adjust to staying in a hotel the way he's going to have to adjust to living with Richie, and he needs to keep his energy up for traveling and games.

"Go home," he tells Richie, pushing him away as much to get Richie to back off as to leave his scent on him. "Sleep in the bed you're giving me if it'll make you feel better. I'll move in when we get back."

Richie curves his hand around the back of Jeff's neck, in a way that means he really wants to use his teeth but won't because they're in a public hallway at the rink. "Pack your stuff. I'll pick you up, and we can leave it in the car."

Jeff nods, lets Richie take what he needs from his body language - both what he's doing on purpose to put Richie at ease and what he doesn't know he's doing - and goes back to his hotel where he packs everything instead of just what he needs to travel tomorrow.

*

They don't have a chance to talk again until they're on the plane, where Richie herds Jeff into a window seat and takes the aisle next to him.

"You've met all the wolves," Richie says. "How many packs?"

"Three," Jeff answers, "besides us." He knows what Richie's doing, that as quiet as their voices are, every wolf on the plane can hear them. Jeff figures it's half about showing off and half about making sure they know what it means that Jeff is a human pack member, not just a human who knows something about wolves.

"You figure out the alphas?"

"Brown." That one's easy; Jeff's never met a wolf captain who wasn't an alpha. "Doughty." Also easy, even if he hadn't been the one to take the longest to accept that Jeff wasn't going to bend to him. "Quick's wife."

Richie's been half watching him with half his attention somewhere else, but that makes his whole attention snap to Jeff, and there's a sort of stillness in the air that makes the hair on the back of Jeff's neck stand up.

Jeff raises his eyebrows. If he speaks the wolves will hear, but the humans across the aisle won't have picked up on it, so movement is safe.

Richie stares at him, considering, slight growl in his throat, before he nods and says, "Most people wouldn't get that."

Jeff answers carefully, not entirely sure what the fuck is going on with the wolves and not willing to do anything that will unbalance things or cause problems for Richie. "I spent enough time around Lauren Pronger to recognize the feel of an alpha mate."

There's something like an exhale, but Jeff doesn't fully relax until Richie squeezes his wrist and nods at him.

*

Jeff doesn't have to do more than look at Richie the next time they're alone out of wolf hearing range to get an explanation.

"Female alphas are rare," Richie says. "You couldn't have guessed that. Most people would have picked Quickie as the alpha."

Jeff crosses his arms over his chest. "So what was that on the plane?"

"That," Richie says, putting his hand at the cross of Jeff's arms, "was a lot of wolves learning not to underestimate what a decade of being the only other member of a pack can do to a human." He squeezes Jeff's arm. "You already make them nervous."

Jeff doesn't quite laugh, but he does let his arms drop to his sides. "The human makes them nervous."

"Yes." Richie pats Jeff's shoulder. "They'll have to come through me if they want to do anything about it, but they should know enough to leave you alone."

Jeff rolls his eyes. "I'm pretty sure even the humans know I'm yours."

*

When they get home, Richie takes them straight from the rink to his house, where Arnold slobbers all over Jeff and Richie gives him the tour. Jeff unpacks into his room, changes into jeans and a t-shirt, and wanders downstairs just in time for Richie to say, "I'm taking Arnold for a walk. Want to come see the beach?"

Jeff slips his feet into a pair of shoes and goes with them. The sun is in the wrong place and the water's different, but it smells like the ocean he's used to, salt and sand.

"Nice."

"Yeah." Richie grins at him and throws a tennis ball into the waves for Arnold. "It's pretty nice here. Laid-back, nice weather." He leans his shoulder into Jeff's. "Both of us here."

"Yeah." Jeff puts his arm around Richie's shoulders. "Didn't think that was going to happen." He takes the ball from Arnold and throws it out into the waves.

"Yeah," Richie breathes. "Packs aren't supposed to be split up."

Jeff squeezes Richie's shoulders in a sudden burst of panic that isn't just his. "So we won't let them do it again."

*

Jeff rummages through the fridge when they get home and pulls out dinner makings.

Richie growls, not threatening enough to make him stop. "You don't have to-"

"If it's the alpha speech," Jeff says, "save it. You're letting me live here. I'll cook."

He doesn't get the speech, but Richie growls again.

"Making me feel useless isn't taking care of or protecting your pack," Jeff says. It's playing dirty, but sometimes that's what has to be done to get his own way with his alpha. "I'm a better cook anyway." He can almost see the wolf recede enough to let Richie laugh.

*

Jeff sleeps in his own bed for the first two nights, jerks off in it one of them, because he wants to and because he knows it'll make the place smell more like him. The third night, he bypasses his door and climbs in with Richie. Instead of Richie curling up against him like he did in the hotel, Richie pushes him onto his back and lies mostly on top of him, nose in the crook of Jeff's neck.

Jeff puts the arm not trapped under Richie around him, thumb stroking across the small of Richie's back, trying to remind Richie that he's here, their pack is together.

Richie rumbles into his neck, a wolf sound like a growl but without the menace, and Jeff tips his head so Richie can bite down. He licks over the bite, and just laughs unrepentantly when Jeff pinches him for it.

*

Arnold jumps on them when they get in after Saturday night's game. Richie calms him down enough that Arnold will let them change before they take him out for a walk down to the beach. It's quiet, for a Saturday night, barely anyone passing them by while they stand at the edge of the water and watch Arnold race up and down the sand.

Richie hands the tennis ball to Jeff, who throws it again for Arnold, and when he turns around, Richie is stripping off his clothes and dropping them onto the sand. Jeff raises his eyebrows, but doesn't get more of an answer than a wolfy grin.

Richie shifts, going from human to wolf in a transition Jeff doesn't find unsettling anymore.

Jeff shakes his head and watches Richie and Arnold tussle for a bit before they both rush up to him. "You're going to play catch?" Jeff throws the tennis ball into a high arc into the surf. Richie's just a little faster than Arnold, and he brings it back to Jeff to throw again.

They play catch until Arnold flops down on the sand at Jeff's feet. Richie joins them more slowly, and Jeff crouches down to rub behind his ears. Arnold perks up after a minute and butts in to demand his turn. By the time Arnold is halfway satisfied, Richie is human and dressed, and resting a hand on Jeff's back.

"That was fun," Richie says as they walk up the beach to the street. "I've been wanting to do that."

"You should have said," Jeff says. "I would have taken you out there." He walks shoulder to shoulder with Richie, Arnold trotting ahead of them.

"Too many neighbors," Richie says.

"If anyone asks, I'll tell them I'm dogsitting."

"Asshole," Richie mutters, but he slings his arm around Jeff's shoulders.

*

Richie growls when Jeff tries to get up on Sunday morning. Jeff rolls his eyes even though Richie has his eyes closed and can't see him and pushes at Richie's arms. "You can sleep. I'm getting up."

Richie finally lets go with another growl.

Jeff goes downstairs and starts the coffee while he takes Arnold out for a quick walk around the block. He's back, sipping coffee and talking to his mom on the phone, when Richie stumbles downstairs. Jeff gets up, pours Richie a cup of coffee, and pushes Richie toward the couch.

"Tell Mike we said hi," Jeff's mom says at the end of the call, "and we're looking forward to seeing him when we come out there."

Jeff hangs up and collects Richie's empty coffee cup to put in the sink with his. "Beach? You and Arnold can run around."

"It's Sunday," Richie says. "There'll be a lot of people out."

"You're well-behaved," Jeff says, "and you can keep Arnold under control."

"If you're up for it," Richie says.

Jeff shrugs. "Nothing else going on."

Richie goes upstairs to leave his clothes in some sort of order, and pads back down as a wolf, which makes Arnold jump at him and bark his head off. Richie does the wolf equivalent of a chuckle and lets Arnold get away with it while Jeff grabs a beach towel, a Frisbee, and Arnold's leash.

Richie stays at Jeff's side on the way down to the beach, where Jeff can reach down and rest his hand on Richie's neck when they stop at the corners, so it doesn't look like he's just letting an unleashed wolfhound wander the streets of Manhattan Beach.

Jeff lets Arnold off his leash on the beach. He tosses the Frisbee for Richie and Arnold for a while before he spreads out his towel and sits down to watch them tussle and race the waves.

Jeff gets up when a couple of kids get too close to Richie and Arnold, goes over to supervise.

"Can we pet them?" one of the kids asks.

Jeff crouches down to their level, catches Arnold by the collar; Richie can be trusted not to be too rough. "Careful. First you want to hold your hand out and let them smell you. This is Arnold. That's Richie."

The kids hold out their hands, and Jeff guides them through making sure Richie and Arnold are comfortable and willing to be touched before the kids pet them.

Arnold gets so excited that he licks the little girl's cheek, making her laugh and squirm away from it. "He's slobbery!"

Jeff just laughs. "He can be."

A man comes over and hovers behind the kids. "Are they bothering you?"

Jeff stands and smiles at him. "No, they're fine."

Richie crowds up against Jeff's leg. Jeff puts his hand down on Richie's head.

"We're playing," the boy says, looking up at the guy who must be the kids' dad.

"Those are very big dogs," the guy says.

"They're very careful," Jeff says. "They're not going to hurt the kids."

"They're nice," the girl says. She throws herself forward and flings her arms around Richie's neck. "Can we get a dog like this?"

Jeff exchanges a smile with the kids' dad. "That's the real danger."

"I can see that." The dad puts his hand on top of the girls' head. "We can talk about dogs later. Your mom's getting lunch ready."

Both kids linger, getting in last chances to pet Richie and Arnold before they're willing to leave with their dad.

Richie looks up at Jeff with an expression that's not hard to read.

"Okay, us too." Jeff shakes sand out of his towel and whistles for Arnold.

"Thanks," Richie says when they're home and he's shifted back. He looks relaxed, something softened in his face, a little like he looks when he's been in Kenora where he can shift and run all he wants. He presses his smile into Jeff's neck. "I missed that."

Jeff curves his hand over the back of Richie's head, rubs at his head the same way he does when Richie's a wolf. "Any time you want to go out there, I'll take you."

*

In the afternoon, Richie puts in a disc of _Entourage_ and pulls Jeff down onto his lap on the couch. Jeff's used to it now - he used to protest that he was too heavy for Richie, until Richie growled at him and said, "Werewolf. I can handle it." - and he knows to just make himself comfortable. Arnold wanders around the house a bit before settling down at their feet.

They're halfway into a second episode when the doorbell rings, and Richie calls out a lazy, "It's unlocked," too quiet for anyone who isn't a wolf to hear.

"Let me up," Jeff says when trying to move doesn't do anything to get him out of Richie's hold.

"It's just Stolly and Quickie," Richie says.

Arnold perks up his head, but doesn't go rushing to greet them, so Jeff sighs and gives up trying to move.

"This is a sad little pack," Stolly says when they come up the stairs. "One human and a black lab."

"You need some pups," Quickie says. He takes the other end of the couch and drapes his legs over Stolly's when he sits down.

"We'd have to have more pack members first," Richie says.

"Or hire a nanny," Stolly suggests.

Jeff gestures at Richie's arms wrapped around his chest and hip. "You really think Richie's going to let an out-pack nanny raise his kids?"

Quickie laughs, more wolf than human. "It's an alpha thing. You should see Jaclyn when someone suggests we get an out-pack babysitter."

Stolly shudders. "I've seen it. It's not pretty."

Quickie tips his head, and looks at Jeff and Richie with a look too speculative for Jeff to be comfortable with. "We know a lot of wolves and wolf-friendly humans, if you're looking for more pack members."

There's one of those wolf shifts in the air that makes Jeff freeze and keep still.

"They aren't all from our pack," Quickie says mildly.

Richie's voice is calm when he says, "I'll keep that in mind," but his grip on Jeff tightens to something just below painful and Arnold lifts his head and whines.

Jeff puts his hand on Richie's arm, slides it down to his wrist, trying to get him to calm down without undermining his authority in front of other wolves.

Richie's teeth scrape over his neck.

Quickie laughs, and his reaction makes Stolly relax too. "Fine," Quickie says. "I'll stay out of it. No promises about Jaclyn, though."

Richie relaxes, and his hold on Jeff goes from constricting to comfortable. Jeff lets go of his arm and reaches down to scratch behind Arnold's ears.


	4. Sex

_Carter on his postgame words with Richards: "I can't tell you. You guys would have too much fun with them."  
-[Nick Cotsonika](https://twitter.com/cotsonika/status/212401756515217408)_

 

Richie hands him the Cup. Richie hands him _the fucking Cup_. The wolves know better than to get between them, and even the humans know that if one of them has it, it's going to the other one next.

Jeff knows he must be grinning as much as Richie is. It's good to see that look, that absolute joy, on Richie's face. On his alpha's face.

They stand there for a second, both their hands on the cup, holding it above both their heads.

"They're not going to separate us now," Jeff says. It's a fierce, certain satisfaction that eases over the last hurts left over from last summer and fucking Holmgren.

That sense Jeff can sometimes get from Richie, the part of being a pack they weren't sure would translate to a human, flares to life with a joy so incandescent Jeff can barely contain it, even with his turn to skate, Cup held high for everyone to see, to burn off some of the energy.

*

It's almost morning by the time they get home. Jeff cooperates as much as he can, but Richie has to half carry him up the stairs. He takes the aspirin Richie gives him with the water Richie makes him drink, and protesting is the last thing on his mind when Richie tugs him down the hall to the master bedroom. They won the fucking Cup; of course they're staying together.

Jeff scrunches down so his head is on Richie's shoulder. "You know this is it," he says. "They're not going to split us up now. Never ever."

"You're so fucking drunk." Richie's laughing at him; Jeff knows even without being able to see it on his face.

"Yeah," Jeff says. "Human and that was a fuckton of booze." He rubs his cheek against Richie's shoulder. Tomorrow he can shave off the beard, and next time it'll be skin against skin. "I shouldn't be," he says. "Then we could have sex. Too drunk to get it up now."

Richie makes a half questioning noise. "You're really drunk."

"Yeah," Jeff says, "but tomorrow, when I'm sober, before I get drunk again, we should."

Richie's silent for a really long time. Really long. Too long for Jeff to be comfortable with.

"You said," Jeff says. "You said if I want to. I want to." He rubs his cheek against Richie's shoulder again, because it feels good even with his beard in the way. "You didn't say you didn't want to."

Richie's hand settles into his hair, keeping him still. "Go to sleep," he says, alpha growl he almost never uses with Jeff in his voice. "We can talk about it when you're sober."

Jeff laughs at him, because alpha or not, Richie's not that good at keeping Jeff from knowing what he's thinking. "This isn't just because I'm drunk." He tries to move again, and gets Richie holding him in place. "I'll still want it when I'm sober."

*

Jeff wakes up alone. There's aspirin and water next to the bed, which he takes. There are extra towels and an open package of razors in Richie's bathroom, so he doesn't bother going down the hall to take a shower and finally shave off the beard. The beard he has because they _won the fucking Cup_.

There's coffee in the kitchen, and bread on the counter, but no Richie. Jeff pours himself a cup of coffee and throws two pieces of bread in the toaster. His hangover isn't that bad, but it's probably best to start with dry toast.

He's halfway through his second piece when the door opens and the rattle of Arnold's tags comes into the kitchen ahead of him and Richie.

Jeff puts his toast down and crouches down. "Hey, bud." He rubs behind Arnold's ears, tips his head so Arnold isn't slobbering all over his face. It only lasts as long as it takes for Richie to refill Arnold's water dish and put it down, which drags Arnold's attention away from Jeff.

"Hungover?" Richie puts his hand on the back of Jeff's neck.

"A little. Not bad." Jeff tips his head down, forehead almost on Richie's shoulder, and lets Richie rub out the last of his headache. Then he has to tip his head up to grin at Richie. "The Cup."

Richie's face splits into a matching grin.

They stand there just grinning at each other for a moment, until Jeff says, "I'm not too hungover to have sex."

Richie goes completely still and the grin disappears from his face.

"I still want to," Jeff says. "And you never said you didn't, so."

Richie takes a deep breath without the growl Jeff half-expects from it. "The other wolves will know," he says.

Jeff shrugs. "They already know I'm yours." He puts his hand over the one Richie still has on the back of his neck and steps closer, so close they're almost breathing the same air. "We won the Cup. We should get laid out of the deal."

Richie says, "There's a whole city of people out there who would hook up with you," but he doesn't move away.

Jeff shrugs again. "I want it to be you. Not," he says, forestalling the objection he can already see forming, "because you're my alpha. Because you're Richie." Richie doesn't stop him when Jeff leans in all the way and kisses him, and it's only a moment after that before Richie is adjusting his grip from Jeff's neck to the back of his head to put Jeff where he wants him.

Jeff runs his hands down Richie's back, then up again under his shirt, and one of Richie's hands ends up on his ass, pulling him in close.

Arnold's tags jingle as he butts at their legs, trying to get between them.

Richie pulls back with a soft exhale that's almost a sigh. "Not here." He pushes Arnold away with a rub behind his ears, and probably exerting a little of his alpha control, and pulls Jeff to his room by the wrist.

He lets go once they're there, pushes the door shut behind them, and Jeff knows how to do this part even if he's never done it with Richie. He pulls off his own shirt, and goes for the button on Richie's pants. He can always push Richie's shirt up later, but he wants to move things along now.

Richie's on the same page, because he shoves Jeff's pants and boxers down and pushes him back onto the bed before Jeff can even get Richie's pants all the way undone.

Jeff props himself halfway up on his elbows and asks, "This is going to be one of those alpha things, isn't it?" while Richie strips in no time flat.

"You wanted me," Richie says. He presses Jeff back into the bed as he settles over him. "You're getting me." He sets his teeth into Jeff's neck, which is both familiar and not.

Jeff groans, and doesn't want him to stop, but he makes himself say, "TV later. Don't leave a hickey."

Richie actually whines in his throat before he lets go, but then he kisses and bites his way down Jeff's body, more than enough to be felt, but never enough to leave a mark.

He licks up the crease of Jeff's thigh and keeps going, all the way up Jeff's cock. He keeps licking, broad swipes with the flat of his tongue, sharper ones with the tip, for so long that Jeff gets frustrated and puts his hand in Richie's hair.

"Come on," he says, and then, low, "fuck," when Richie pins his hand to the bed but takes his cock all the way in anyway.

Richie sucks hard, and fuck, it's so good Jeff briefly wonders who else he's done this to, then decides he doesn't care because, _fuck_ , it's good.

He gasps out something like a warning when he's about to come, but Richie doesn't stop, sucks him all the way through it, swallows some and spits some into his hand. Then he's kneeling over Jeff, knees on the outside of Jeff's hips, and jerking himself off with Jeff's come.

Jeff touches him, lets Richie do his thing, but runs a finger across the head of his cock, up the underside of the shaft, eyes flicking from there to Richie's face, figuring out what he likes most.

When Richie comes, it's with a growl that doesn't even begin to sound human.

Jeff brings his hand up to his mouth and licks it clean, watching Richie watch him the whole time. It's not the first time Jeff's tasted come, but it's never been Richie's before.

Richie growls again, and leans over Jeff, one hand rubbing his come into Jeff's skin and the other on the bed holding himself up. He nudges Jeff's head to the side so he can get to his neck, sniffs it, then licks all the way up it, and finally kisses Jeff.

"I should have guessed you would want to come all over me," Jeff says when the kiss breaks. "I thought you would fuck me."

Richie leans in with a growl, mouth close to Jeff's ear. "I'm going to do that too."

Jeff stays still, lets Richie nip at his ear, then his neck. "How do you keep people you hook up with from knowing you're a wolf?"

Richie pulls back with a look like Jeff should know better. "I'm careful with them." He rolls off of Jeff, runs a hand over Jeff's stomach, and gets out of bed to open the door and let Arnold in. He comes back to bed, curls in next to Jeff, one arm over his chest, a leg thrown over his. He tugs the sheet up over them before he lets Arnold up onto the bed.

"We have places to be," Jeff says.

"Later," Richie says. "We can nap."

Jeff takes Richie's phone from him and sets an alarm just in case. "I'm taking a shower before we leave," he warns Richie.

Richie growls at him.

Jeff reaches across Arnold to put the phone on the nightstand. "I'm not leaving the house smelling like come."

Richie growls again, and Jeff rubs his arm, using the touch to calm him down.

"Everyone will still know I'm yours."

*

Jeff gets his shower, despite Richie's protests, and they go out with a couple of the other guys for dinner after their Kimmel interview.

Richie doesn't let them even think about going out after that, wraps his hand tight around Jeff's wrist under the table and says they're done for the day.

Whatever it is Richie wants from Jeff, he's responsible for more than just him, so they take Arnold out for a walk when they get home, down to the beach where Jeff and Richie stand shoulder to shoulder, looking out over the stretch of the Pacific while Arnold dashes in and out of the waves.

Richie whistles for Arnold after a while, wraps his hand around Jeff's wrist and squeezes for a moment before he bends down to clip on Arnold's leash.

They amble back to the house, letting Arnold dart across the sidewalks and sniff at anything that's changed in the time since they walked down to the beach.

Richie sends Arnold to lie down on the dog bed in the living room, and takes Jeff's wrist to lead him to the master bedroom.

Jeff's not quite expecting it, but he's not surprised when Richie shoves him up against the door, one hand on his shoulder, the other on the back of his head, thigh between his, and kisses him hard enough that Jeff's lips hurt when he pulls away.

"There were a lot of wolves in that studio," Richie says. "You shouldn't have showered."

Jeff says, "They knew I was yours anyway," and tips his head back to bare his neck.

Richie growls, sets his teeth against Jeff's skin. He doesn't bite hard enough to leave a mark, but Jeff can feel the tension in his body, how much he wants to.

"Come on," Jeff says. "I thought you were going to fuck me."

"I am," Richie practically snarls, and then he's shoving Jeff around, pulling his shirt off, pushing his pants down, herding him across the room to the bed.

Jeff lets it happen - Richie has wolf strength, sure, but he would stop if Jeff told him to - and puts his hand on his cock while he watches Richie get out of his clothes. He's all the way hard with how much Richie wants this, how much _he_ wants this.

Richie seems to have himself a little more in control when he kneels over Jeff on the bed; he barely even growls when he tips Jeff's head to the side so he can lick a stripe all the way up the most vulnerable part of Jeff's neck, where the skin is thinnest over his veins.

He rests his forehead on Jeff's for a moment, and Jeff reaches up to put his hand on the back of Richie's neck.

Jeff says, "You're not making me do anything I don't want to," and takes one of Richie's hands to bring it down to his cock, so Richie can feel what he should be able to smell.

Richie strokes his cock once and then lets go and says, "Turn over," with his hand on Jeff's hip and nothing wolf in his voice, just him calm and knowing what he wants, like always.

Jeff stretches up to kiss him, because he wants that too, Richie the human as well as Richie his alpha, and then does as he's been told.

Richie's hands spread over his ass, and then hold him open and he hovers there, so close Jeff can feel his breath, and then he licks, all the way from the base of Jeff's cock to the small of his back, and Jeff loses all his breath in one punch of an exhale.

He groans out Richie's name after he inhales again, and Richie pats his ass once before he stretches across the bed to get into the nightstand drawer.

"Have you done this before?" Richie asks when he has one finger inside Jeff.

"Fingers," Jeff says, "nothing else," and his answer gets him a pleased growl, a kiss to his hip, and the slight scratch of Richie's stubble sliding across the small of his back.

Richie works him open slower than he needs to, and with enough lube that even Jeff with his human hearing can hear it around Richie's fingers.

"Hey," Jeff says, kicking lightly at Richie. "Enough. You're not going to hurt me."

Richie's fingers close around his ankle, pressing it into the bed. Jeff almost laughs at how predictable that is, but it's hot too, and Richie's also taking his fingers out and rolling on a condom, and the last thing Jeff wants is to make him stop what he's doing.

Richie pushes into him in one long, slow slide that ends with their hips flush and Richie's chest pressed to his back.

Jeff says, "Oh, fuck," because it's good, it's so fucking good to have Richie all the way in him.

Richie whines a little, like he can't help it, and he nips at the back of Jeff's neck before he starts to move, and if Jeff thought it was good to have Richie in him, it's nothing compared to what it's like to have Richie thrusting into him and growling and saying his name.

It lasts longer than Jeff thought it would with how keyed up both of them are, but any stamina he might have gives out when Richie bites him, teeth in his shoulder hard enough that it might leave a mark, more than hard enough for it to mark Jeff as Richie's to any wolf who comes anywhere near him.

Jeff gets his hand on his cock and comes with a shout. Richie grabs his hand as soon as he's done, twists it back, and licks it, which is enough to make Jeff groan and wish he could come again.

Richie thrusts into him a few more times and growls around Jeff's fingers when he comes.

Jeff collapses down onto the bed when Richie pulls out of him, and he listens to the sound of Richie stripping off the condom, and then a pause when nothing happens.

Jeff rolls his head, trying to look at Richie from where he is. Richie has the condom in one hand, and Jeff just puts his head back down and says, "Yeah, okay," even though Richie didn't ask him anything. "Come on," he says when Richie doesn't move for another breath, and then there's the slightly cool splash of come on his lower back, and Richie's hand rubbing it into his skin. From anyone else, it would just be gross - is kind of gross anyway - but Jeff knew what he was getting into when he decided he wanted to have sex with his alpha.

Richie makes a pleased grumble when he takes his hand off of Jeff's back, and another when he gets out of bed and comes back to find Jeff hasn't moved.

Jeff turns his head to smile at him, and it has to be a goofy smile if it looks anything like the way he feels.

Richie kisses him, a lot softer than he expects, and turns him onto his side before he settles in against his back. "Okay?"

"Oh, yeah," Jeff says. He puts his hand over Richie's so Richie knows he wants this too. "I'm good."

*

On Wednesday, when Richie tries to keep Jeff in bed, Jeff nuzzles at the underside of his jaw and says, "If you let me up now, I'll come back and blow you."

Richie cracks an eye open and looks at him for a moment Jeff forces himself to be patient for, and then lets him go. Well, that's one way to get Richie to let go.

Jeff goes to the bathroom, takes Arnold out, sets the coffeemaker to come on in a bit. Richie's eyes are open when Jeff comes back to the bedroom, even if Jeff's pretty sure he opened them when he heard Jeff's footsteps in the hall.

Jeff gets back into bed, crawling up it so he's over Richie, and ducking down to kiss Richie. Richie doesn't growl at him, barely even hums into it.

Jeff's not going to complain if Richie is going let him take over, so he slides back down the bed, pulling the sheet away from Richie as he goes, and nudges at Richie's hip to get him to cooperate in getting his clothes off.

Richie's already hard, and he's just _watching_ Jeff, like there's nothing else he wants to be doing.

It would be intimidating if it were anyone but Richie.

Jeff knows he can't hurt Richie, and that Richie won't hurt him, so he stops thinking about the fact that he's never done this before and just goes for it. It can't be that different from going down on a girl, and it's not like he doesn't know what it's like from the other side. Careful with the teeth, pay attention to what he likes. He's already tasted Richie's come, his skin. Jeff uses his tongue, too, trying to find all the spots Richie liked him touching yesterday.

Richie growls a little, his thighs trembling under Jeff's chest. His hands settle into Jeff's hair, but he doesn't push, just touches, his fingers slipping down to Jeff's neck.

Jeff can feel Richie watching him, and he tries to watch back, as much as he can from the angle he's at. He doesn't always need it; he can taste it when Richie gets closer to coming, feel the restless shifting of his legs, the slight thrusts of his hips.

"Carts," Richie says, and he does make Jeff move now, slight nudges at his jaw to make him draw back. "I want to-"

And of course he does. Jeff circles his hand around Richie's cock, lets Richie's hand covering it guide his strokes, and he closes his eyes when Richie growls at him, waits through the splash of come over his face, opens his eyes when Richie's fingers drag through it.

Richie drags him up with a growled command Jeff has no interest in fighting, licks his cheek before he kisses him, wraps his hand around Jeff's cock and jerks him off in even, sure strokes that result in Jeff coming on his chest.

*

Richie doesn't even bother trying to keep Jeff from a shower, and then they're off to watch the Dodgers play, and splitting up to have dinner with their own families.

Richie texts, _Still hanging with the fam. Mom and Dad love the weather here_ , when Jeff asks if he's coming out with the guys, so Jeff goes alone.

He gets a sharp look from a couple of the wolves, which he puts down to being alone more than anything else that's happened; if they were going to notice that he smells that much more like Richie, they would have done it yesterday.

They don't hover, at least, and Jeff's at the bar chatting with people and getting a beer when a stacked blonde girl who barely comes up to his chest slides into the space next to him and says, "I'm Vicky."

Jeff leans down so she can hear him. "Jeff. What are you drinking?"

Vicky smiles up at him, lips red as anything and turning up into a smile just small enough to make him want to make it bigger. "Whatever you are."

Jeff looks her up and down and gets the bartender to pour them a couple of shots of tequila just so he can see her mouth close over a slice of lime.

He gets another couple of sharp looks from the wolves when he brings Vicky back to the table with him, but he shakes them off. She's funny, as well as hot, and doesn't seem to mind that he doesn't have that much to say. Their party could use some girls, anyway.

The looks don't stop, though, and eventually he pulls out his phone and texts Richie, _Hot blonde named Vicky is totally into me._

 _Hot blondes are always into you_ , Richie texts back, which is (a) not true and (b) not helpful.

_Other wolves are glaring at me._

_I don't know what you want from me_ , Richie sends, and Jeff can almost hear the frustrated tone of his voice.

Jeff leans down to say, "I have to make a call. I'll be right back," to Vicky - she mock pouts at him but doesn't seem too put out about it - before he slips out of the club and around the corner where it's quiet enough that he can call Richie.

"Are you asking my permission to fuck her?" Richie says. "You've never done that before."

Jeff looks around to make sure no one's listening to him before he says, "I've never spent two days covered in your come before."

Richie growls at him, and then there's noise and then less noise, like Richie's getting away from wherever he is. "Cartsy," he says, "do whatever you want." It's starker for the lack of background noise.

"And if I want to bring her home?" Jeff's not even sure he does, but he's halfway drunk and needling Richie seems like a good idea. "Going to go all alpha on me if I do that?"

There's a pause where he expects a growl, where there should be a growl. "Do whatever you want," Richie finally says, voice flat, and then he hangs up on Jeff.

Jeff has to look at his phone twice before he believes it, and then he goes back into the club, does another round of shots with the guys, and takes Vicky out onto the dance floor.

He doesn't bring her home, in the end, and he showers before he goes to bed in his own room, the door to Richie's already closed, no light showing from underneath it.

*

Jeff gets up only half hungover on Thursday morning and doesn't have to fight with Richie to get out of bed. He takes a shower, brushes his teeth, and makes enough breakfast for both of them. He waits until Richie is actually in the kitchen before pouring him a cup of coffee and making him a plate.

Richie stares at him, then says, "You made breakfast."

"Using up the eggs before we leave."

Richie sets his mouth in a stubborn line that looks like he might not even take the cup of coffee. "If this is some kind of please the alpha thing, if you're trying to-"

"I'm trying to use up the eggs."

Richie doesn't look like he believes it. "Is this about yesterday or about last night?"

Jeff does his best approximation of a growl. It's not very good, but it's enough to surprise Richie into shutting up. "Drink." Jeff shoves the coffee at Richie so he doesn't have any choice but to take it or let it fall. "Eat." He does the same with Richie's plate. "We're not talking about this until you're all the way awake."

They eat in silence broken only by Arnold padding around them and the scrape of silverware.

Richie slurps obnoxiously at the end of his coffee, and tips the cup so Jeff can see it's empty. "Can I talk now?"

Jeff rolls his eyes, but gestures at Richie to go ahead.

"What the fuck? Are you seriously pulling some sort of make it up to the alpha because you think you pissed me off shit?"

"It's breakfast," Jeff says, "and I cook all the time."

Richie doesn't look any happier for that answer. "You still think you pissed me off."

"I did piss you off." Jeff runs a hand over his hair. "I was trying to, and that was a dick move."

The noise Richie makes is something like a snarl, but quieter, enough to make Arnold whine, but not enough to scare Jeff.

"Because we had sex? Maybe we shouldn't have."

"We didn't just have sex," Jeff says. "You covered me in your come for two days and barely let me into a shower. And then the wolves glared at me when I talked to a girl who might hook up with me. I'm not a wolf. I don't know how this works."

"You think I do?" Richie gathers up their plates with a clatter. "I went from my parents' pack to ours. I don't know what it's like to fuck someone else in the pack." He rinses the dishes and puts them into the dishwasher with such force that Jeff stays far enough back that he probably won't be hit by pieces if they break. "I don't even know what it's like to fuck someone who knows I'm a wolf and knows what the fuck that means." He stops and curls his hands around the edge of the counter. "Maybe we shouldn't have."

Jeff crosses the kitchen, puts his hands over Richie's and uncurls them, turns Richie around. They may weigh the same, but Jeff has five inches on Richie, and he uses them to keep Richie in place. "I wanted to. I'm not sorry." He tips his head to the side, baring his neck. "We're still pack. You're still my alpha."

Jeff has to wait for it, but then Richie takes it for the invitation it is and rubs his cheek against Jeff's neck.

Jeff huffs out a laugh. "You've been leaving your scent all over me since way before I even became your pack." He doesn't step back, but he does stop looming, relaxes so it's Richie keeping him there instead of the other way around. "We'll figure it out and I'll stop being a dick about it."

Richie bites him, a sharp nip of teeth over thin skin. "Yes, you will."

*

Things feel better by the time they leave for the parade, even if they're still off enough that Doughty brings Penner over to them on the bus and nudges Richie away from Jeff to get between them. Richie doesn't even protest beyond a look he shares with Drew.

Vegas feels a little like that too, nothing completely wrong, but with an edge to it where Jeff feels like the other wolves are hemming him in, keeping him in whatever line they think he should be in.

On Friday night, after two days of it, Jeff gets out of bed where he can't sleep anyway and lets himself into Richie's room.

He knows Richie has to be awake, has to have heard him come in, has to know it's him, but Richie doesn't say anything, doesn't even move while Jeff gets into bed with him.

"Letting the other wolves push me around isn't figuring this out," Jeff says when Richie doesn't say anything.

"They know what they're doing," Richie says, with an exhale that sounds shaky even to Jeff's ears.

Jeff turns onto his side, slides closer, so he can touch Richie, finds his wrist in the dark, fingers against his pulse. "They're not our pack. They don't know us." He tugs at Richie's arm until Richie moves and they can curl around each other.

It's a comfort for Jeff - he's not used to being too far from Richie for too long, not anymore - and it has to be more of one for Richie, because once Jeff pulls him close, he presses his face into Jeff's neck. He's not licking or biting, but he is smelling Jeff, and breathing hot and damp on his neck.

"Do you not want me to hook up with anyone else?" Jeff asks.

They're pressed close enough that Jeff can feel Richie shudder. "Maybe in the summer. I don't think-" He nudges closer so his lips brush against Jeff's neck as he speaks. "I don't think I can take it if I can smell it on you."

Jeff keeps his breath, his heartbeat, even. It's not much of an effort; he knows he's safe with Richie, and it's better to have Richie actually telling him something instead of being herded.

"Is it a wolf thing?"

Richie makes an unhappy growl. "I don't know. An alpha thing maybe."

"Okay."

Richie lifts his head from Jeff's neck, probably looking at him in whatever faint light there is in the room. "Just like that."

"Just like that," Jeff says. "You're my alpha. That's more important than hooking up." He finds the back of Richie's head with his hand and pulls Richie back down to his neck. "Figuring this out is more important."

"Carts," Richie says, "you're human. You don't have to-"

"Shut up," Jeff says without malice. "I've been your pack for seven years. I'm not going to change my mind about it now."

Richie exhales all in a rush, and relaxes into Jeff in a way he hasn't for days. "Okay," he says. "We'll see about the summer."

"Okay," Jeff says. He rubs his hand down the back of Richie's neck, but doesn't relax enough to fall asleep until Richie opens his mouth, teeth against Jeff's neck and presses down just short of hard enough to leave a mark.

*

They're home Sunday night, the last night they're going to be there together since Jeff's leaving in the morning and Richie a couple of hours later.

Jeff cooks, because even though Richie suggests they could go out, there's still food in the fridge, and they've been out all weekend, most of the week, really, and Jeff just wants a quiet evening with Richie before they have to leave.

Richie helps him clean up after dinner, the two of them moving around each other easily, until the kitchen's clean enough that they can reasonably eat breakfast in the morning and leave the rest for the cleaning service.

"Walk down to the beach?" Richie asks after that, and Jeff shrugs, because they might as well, even if Richie's parents took Arnold home with them.

"Think we'll get tired of this?" Jeff asks, when they're wandering down the beach, sand under their feet and waves crashing toward them.

"I haven't yet." Richie bumps his shoulder into Jeff's. "Maybe in a few years."

Jeff can't help the grin that stretches across his face, because they're not going anywhere this time.

There are a few people out on the beach, but not a lot, and the waves are loud enough that someone would have to be pretty close to hear them anyway.

"This summer," Jeff says. He stays close to Richie, shoulders brushing as they walk, to try to do something about the way Richie tenses. "We didn't really talk about it."

"I don't know." Richie shakes his head. "Can we talk about it when you're not here? I think it'll be easier if I can't smell you."

Jeff huffs out a laugh. "That kind of thing doesn't even seem weird to me anymore."

"Seven years," Richie says. He turns them back toward the house. "Just a little over."

Jeff bumps his shoulder into Richie's. "Yep."

Richie locks the door behind them when they get home, and herds Jeff up the stairs to the master bedroom. Jeff makes sure to set an alarm on his phone before he lets Richie drag him into bed. It's early yet, but that doesn't matter. Jeff's happy to lie there with Richie, Richie's chin hooked over his shoulder and Richie's hands alternately still and tracing patterns over his skin.

*

Monday morning brings the usual argument about Richie letting him out of bed; Jeff set his alarm ten minutes earlier than he really needs to get up just so he wouldn't feel rushed because of it.

"You have to let me up," he says. "I'll make breakfast."

Richie still grumbles, but he does let Jeff up after a while. Jeff takes a shower, goes to his room to throw the last few things into his bag, and goes to the kitchen to use up whatever's left in the fridge for breakfast.

Richie makes it out of bed, unshowered and still in his boxers and t-shirt, just as Jeff is making up plates.

"Do you want coffee?"

Richie scrubs a hand over his face. "Yeah. I guess I shouldn't go back to sleep."

Jeff pours him a cup, and they eat at the table, ankles brushing under it.

Jeff cleans up after breakfast, makes sure they're leaving things as disaster-free as possible for the cleaning service, and brings his bags down to the door. Even after doing a last pass through the house for anything he wants to take with him for the summer, he still has a while before the car service gets there.

Richie's still in the kitchen, leaning over his phone on the counter, with a second cup of coffee at his elbow. He looks up when Jeff joins him.

"Ready to go?"

"Yes." Jeff wraps his hand around Richie's wrist. "Come on."

Richie raises his eyebrows at him, but he picks up his coffee and lets himself be pulled into the living room. Jeff pushes him down onto the couch and settles himself onto Richie's lap, careful not to make Richie spill his coffee.

"Okay?"

Richie hooks one arm around Jeff's waist. "I'm good."

They don't talk - Richie finishes his coffee and reads over Jeff's shoulder as he checks his phone for anything that needs to be replied to before he leaves - but it's a good, comfortable silence that doesn't break until the doorbell rings.

Richie trails Jeff to the door and hovers while Jeff helps the driver carry Jeff's bags out to the car.

"Give me five minutes," Jeff says to the driver, and then he goes back into the house, closes the door behind him, and gets pulled into a bone-crushing hug.

"It's just a couple of weeks," he tells Richie, even though he's hanging on just as tight. "Then I'll come up to the lake. Or you can come down to Jersey."

Richie growls at the suggestion. "You're coming to the lake."

Jeff chuckles. "Okay, I'm coming to the lake."

Richie scrapes his teeth over Jeff's neck, hard enough that he'll probably still be feeling it when he gets to Jersey. He lets go after that, but Jeff doesn't move away. Instead he tips Richie's head up and kisses him, slow and careful.

He rests his forehead on Richie's afterward. "Okay?"

Richie squeezes his hip. "Okay."

Jeff hugs him again, a quick squeeze, and Richie's hand slides along his body when he steps away so he can leave.


	5. Forever

_I'm a big believer in that everything happens for a reason, and if this is the road that was intended for us, then so be it. We're happy right now.  
-[Mike Richards](http://www.csnphilly.com/hockey-philadelphia-flyers/flyers-talk/Richards-Carter-II-Carters-plight?blockID=716160&feedID=695)_

 

Jeff texts Richie a lot - well, mostly Richie texts him long updates about Kenora and he texts back acknowledgments - but they don't talk much for the first week. Jeff spends a lot of time on the beach, doing nothing, and has a couple of friends over to hang out or have dinner. It's Sean, one of the guys he hangs out with in Sea Isle, who introduces him to April.

April is a tiny blonde bombshell who plops down into his lap the first time she meets him and says, "Everyone says I'll like you. I think it's up to you to prove them right," and gives him such a gorgeous smile he can't do anything but flirt back.

She comes over with friends for dinner another night, and shows up at the beach, where she spreads a towel out on the sand and asks him to put sunblock on her back.

She's hot, fun to flirt with, and not interested in the fact that he plays hockey (although maybe in the fact that he's rich). Jeff's happy to spend a little time with her, until they end up in a bar one night and she leans so close they're pressed together and says, "Jeff Carter, when are you going to take me home?"

Jeff doesn't have an answer for that. He could take her home and get laid. Richie's far away; he won't know if Jeff's bed smells like someone else. But Jeff would know, and he's not willing to do that without talking to Richie first.

So instead of an answer, Jeff just gives her the smile that lets him get away with a lot of things. It's kind of a dick move, but not worse than taking her home without talking to Richie would be.

April gives him a look that says she knows he's blowing her off, but she doesn't push the issue, and she leaves with her friends and Jeff goes home alone where he stares at his phone for a long time before he decides not to make things any worse by calling Richie drunk in the middle of the night.

He calls in the morning instead, late enough that he's probably not waking Richie up. They chat for a minute, usual things like how many fish Richie's caught and how sunburnt Jeff is, before Jeff says, "Remember Sean? He introduced me to this girl."

There's a moment of silence that doesn't bode well, and then Richie asks, "Hot blonde?" and even though he's not growling, there's enough of an answer in his tone for Jeff.

"You don't want me to hook up with her."

Richie does growl at that. "I want to sink my teeth into you so no one else will ever touch you."

Jeff shivers, because that sends heat curling through him, way more than any encounter with April. "And cover me in come?"

"Don't turn this into a fucking joke," Richie snaps.

"I'm not," Jeff says. "It's not like I minded when you did that. It was hot."

Richie growls again, but less angry this time. "That's not what you signed up for when you became my pack."

Jeff laughs. "I didn't know what the hell I was signing up for when I joined your pack. That doesn't mean I want out of it," he adds on quickly.

Richie sighs. "You should still be able to hook up."

"Not if it's going to be a thing for you."

Richie makes a frustrated noise. "This is worse when I can't smell you."

"Okay," Jeff says. "I'll come up there."

"You don't have to-"

"I want to," Jeff says, and, yeah, this is harder when Richie can't smell him or hear his heart and know that he means it. "I was going to come up there anyway."

"In a couple of weeks."

"I can come now," Jeff says. "And you better come pick me up at the airport, or I'll call your mom and you'll get lectured about being a bad host and a bad alpha."

"Fuck," Richie says, "you're such a stubborn ass."

"Yep. I'll text you my flight information."

"Fine," Richie says, and then, without the edge of irritation, "it'll be good to see you."

*

Richie's waiting outside when Jeff gets off the plane in Kenora, leaning against his SUV. He slips his phone into his pocket when Jeff pushes through the door, and there's a coiled energy behind his smile that even Jeff can sense. Jeff matches it with smile of his own, more of a grin really, because he didn't realize how much he missed Richie until now.

Richie pulls him into a hug, fingers digging into Jeff's back, and lets him go too quickly. "Come on," he says. "Get in the car."

Jeff throws his bag in the back and climbs in. "You didn't bring Arnold?"

"He's at home. You'll see him soon enough." Richie's smiling as he says it, doesn't really stop smiling.

Jeff leans back in his seat and watches that smile while Richie drives.

"What?"

"Nothing." Jeff can't keep the smile off his face either. "I'm just glad to be here."

Richie shakes his head, but leaves it alone.

Jeff drops his bags just inside the door when they get to Richie's, and crouches down to rub behind Arnold's ears and let Arnold smell him and try to lick his cheek.

He stands up after a few minutes, and then it's Richie wrapping him up in a tight hug. Jeff tilts his head to the side, making room for Richie to get at his neck. He'd let Richie leave marks on him - there's no reason not to, in the summer - but Richie stops before it gets that far. He doesn't let go, though, not until Jeff's stomach rumbles. Then Richie lets go of him with a laugh.

"Come into the kitchen. I'll make you something to eat."

"I can-"

Richie's growl cuts him off. "No. I went fishing yesterday. I'll make you something to eat. I can provide for you."

Jeff just kind of looks at him for a minute, because while he expected at least a token protest, that wasn't anything close to what he thought it would be.

Richie rubs a hand over his face. "I've been spending a lot of time running in the woods. The wolf thing is a little-" He makes an indeterminate gesture. "Go put your stuff upstairs. I'll make you something to eat."

Jeff runs a hand down Richie's arm, shoulder to wrist, before he picks up his bags and takes them upstairs. He puts them in the master bedroom, because there's no way he's sleeping anywhere but with Richie, at least for tonight. He doesn't linger upstairs, not with the way Richie's acting, and he goes right back down to the kitchen to sit at the counter and watch Richie cook. They don't talk, but Richie keeps reaching across the counter to touch Jeff.

*

They spend a couple of days not doing much. They go fishing on the lake one afternoon, play a couple of games of pool, take Arnold for long walks in the woods. They sleep in Mike's bed, sit side by side at the kitchen table, stack themselves together on the couch.

They don't have sex, and they don't talk about hot blondes. Jeff gets one text from Sean, asking about April; he makes sure Richie isn't reading over his shoulder and sends back, _Out of town for a while._

The third day he's there, Richie's mom calls while they're in the cabana, pressed close together, watching some forgettable action movie. Richie's frowning, almost a scowl, when he hangs up.

"Mom wants me to bring you over for dinner tomorrow."

"If you want to go, it's fine with me," Jeff says, still treading a little carefully around all the things they aren't talking about.

"I don't," Richie says. "I don't want to share you." He makes a face. "When did we become so fucking codependent?"

Jeff's heart must kick up a notch before he consciously decides to say anything, because Richie looks at him sharply and says, "What?"

Jeff pulls away, not far, just far enough to sit up, because if they're finally going to talk about this, it seems like the kind of conversation he should be upright for. "I think," he says slowly, and he doesn't reach for Richie as much as he wants to wrap his hand around Richie's wrist, feel his pulse against his fingers, "that other people call it falling in love."

Richie stares at him, and then he sits up too. "I'm a wolf. An alpha. You don't know what that would mean."

Jeff tilts his head enough to bare his neck but doesn't look away. "Seven years," he says, "and I knew it was Quickie's wife who was the alpha."

"Jeff," Richie says, and he looks, sounds, scared in a way Jeff's never seen him. "What about your hot blondes?"

Jeff shrugs. "They're hot, and I want to get laid, but I came here." He scoots forward a little, puts his hand over Richie's, needing to touch him now, because Richie should never look like that, especially not when he's looking at Jeff. "When you picked me up, at the airport-" He shakes his head. "I _missed_ you, and that was barely two weeks. I want to be where you are." He lets his fingers curl around Richie's wrist. "I want you to cover me in come and make sure I smell like you." He smiles a little. "I want you to not want to share me."

"Jeff," Richie says, and this time it comes out strangled.

"Mike," Jeff says, "come on." He tugs at Richie's wrist. "What do you want?"

Richie growls at him and tips him backwards, hand careful on the back of Jeff's head so he doesn't hit even the softness of the cabana cushions with any force. "I want," he says, still growling, "for you to be _mine_."

"Yes," Jeff says, and he tips his chin up so Richie can bite down on his neck, puts his hands on the back of Richie's head to keep him there long enough for him to leave a mark.

Richie stays at Jeff's neck, breathing against it, even after there's a mark that's going to be visible to anyone who looks at Jeff. "You mean it."

"Yeah," Jeff says. "I mean it." He tugs Richie up. "I want it." He grins at Richie. "Fuck me. Cover me in come."

He can feel Richie's hitched breath against him.

"Okay," Richie says. He kisses Jeff, long and slow and every bit as possessive as the bite on Jeff's neck. And then he pulls away, even though Jeff tries to keep him there. "Not out here." Richie looks around, out at the lake. "Not where people can see you. Inside."

Jeff lets Richie pull him up and pull him up to the house, all the way up to the master bedroom where Richie pushes the door shut with a quick apology to Arnold and then turns to look at Jeff.

Jeff just waits, because he knows, could feel the tension in Richie's body, that this still has to go Richie's way, at least this time.

Richie exhales, loud in the quiet room, and says, "Get your clothes off."

Jeff strips as fast as he can, and looks up to find Richie just watching in a way that makes his mouth go dry.

Jeff says, "Mike." His voice is already raw, and it makes Richie cross the space between them.

"I'm going to fuck you," Richie says, nosing along his jaw, "and then I'm going to come on you." He sucks at the skin over Jeff's collarbone.

Jeff shudders and grips at the fabric of Richie's shirt. "Take this off." He tugs at the shirt until Richie takes it off, and then he goes for Richie's pants.

Richie keeps biting wherever he wants, Jeff's shoulder, neck, jaw, and he steps out of his pants when Jeff pushes them down, moves back when Jeff pushes him toward the bed.

"Fuck me," Jeff says. He pushes Richie away and crawls onto the bed, stretching out on his back with his legs spread. He wraps one hand around his cock and strokes it twice before Richie pulls his hand away with a growl.

"Mine," Richie says. He leans down and sucks at the skin over Jeff's hip, licks up his cock and swipes his tongue over the head.

"Fuck." Jeff lets his head drop down onto the pillow. "You should really- Wherever you keep the lube." He's too far in the center of the bed to get at the nightstand without moving, and Richie's holding his hips down in a way that makes it clear he's not allowed to move.

Richie lets go of him to get the lube and a condom, but Jeff stays where he is anyway, waiting for Richie.

It's more than worth it for the way Richie growls and bites at Jeff's hip. He lets go after a few seconds, and then there are slick fingers pressing into Jeff instead.

Richie stretches him just enough, and then he's taking his fingers out and there's a pause while he tears open the condom and then he's pushing in and Jeff exhales with it, accepts it, and reaches to pull Richie closer to him.

Richie growls, "Mine," and bites at Jeff's collarbone.

"Yes," Jeff says. "Yours. I want- How does this work? Can I bite you?"

Richie makes a noise, like a whine and a groan wrapped together, and he shifts them, moving so Jeff can set his teeth against Richie's neck and mark him up the way Richie's marked him.

Richie stays still until Jeff lets go, and then he fucks into him hard and fast, both hands digging into Jeff's hips.

Jeff reaches for his cock. "Can I?"

" _Yes_."

Jeff jerks himself off in time with Richie's thrusts, until he can't anymore, until neither of them is in any sort of rhythm, when it's just desperate and frantic.

"Mike," Jeff says, and Richie whines in his throat, says, " _Yes_ ," and "Jeff," and Jeff comes all over his stomach and hand.

He holds his hand up to Richie, who sucks on his fingers for a moment before he pulls out of Jeff, strips off the condom, and jerks off onto his stomach.

Richie wipes his hands through the mix of come on Jeff's skin, spreads it farther than it fell in the first place, and holds his hand out to Jeff to lick clean. It doesn't do it for him quite the same way it does for Richie, but knowing what it does for Richie does do it for him, and he doesn't really mind the taste.

Richie settles down next to him, half curled into him with an arm across his chest. Relaxed in a way Jeff's pretty sure only he ever gets to see.

"Is that it?" Jeff asks. "Really hot sex and I belong to you and only you now?"

That gets a tired chuckle out of Richie. "It's like becoming pack," he says. "You have to agree to it and want it." He makes a face. "You already bit me. I probably should have told you what that means, but you already said you wanted it."

"Yes," Jeff says. "I do." He rubs his hand over Richie's arm. He feels good, and it's better than a normal kind of good because he has what he wants, but he's not sure if any of that is the wolf stuff. The wolf stuff. Which means that other wolves aren't just going to be able to smell Richie on him. If Jeff could pick out Quickie, they'll be able to figure him out. "How much shit are you going to get from the other wolves for having a human mate?"

He can feel as well as hear Richie suck in a breath when he uses the actual word.

"Some," Richie says after a moment. "But probably not more than they already give me for having you as my pack."

Jeff thinks back to Quickie giving them shit, and decides that as long as they're here and this is it for them, he might as well ask, "Are you going to want kids? Pups? Whatever."

Richie goes absolutely still and then he tightens his arm around Jeff. "Are you?"

Jeff presses into Richie as much as he can. "Yes," he says, "if that's what you want."

Richie noses into Jeff's shoulder, bites him lightly. "Yes," he says. "But not now. I want you all to myself for now. You haven't even fucked me yet."

Jeff can feel the heat that sends through him, still too soon for him to get it up again, but more than enough to make him want to. He presses his fingers into the bite mark on Richie's neck, one of the ones Richie left on him. "Okay," he says. "You can have that."

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Your Territory and Mine](https://archiveofourown.org/works/602552) by [Lake (beyond_belief)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/beyond_belief/pseuds/Lake)
  * [[Podfic] In all the Corners of your Heart](https://archiveofourown.org/works/838099) by [takola](https://archiveofourown.org/users/takola/pseuds/takola)




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